Transcript

This is not Afghanistan or
Somalia, its eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and these women are
testifying in a landmark trial.

They’re veiled for their own
protection.

BBC desktop jukebox

The defendants are soldiers
from the Congolese army, accused of mass rape and looting.

39 soldiers and officers up to
the rank of Lieutenant colonel are on trial in a military court.

Over 1000 victims of rape and
looting have been recorded.

Yet is justice being done?

10:00:41

SUBTITLES

WITNESS 68

My wish is for the perpetrator of this crime to be punished for what he
did.

I will ask the judges to give me justice.

10:01:08

Gvs

COMMENTARY 2

An estimated 1.8 million women
have been raped in their lifetime in Congo.

Goma town

Despite the laws against sexual
violence being revised in 2006. Justice has never been taken seriously as a
deterrent here and a culture of impunity has prevailed.

Until now…

10:01:29

UP SOT

Bonjour Laurent…

10:01:32

COMMENTARY 3

Nadine Sayiba Mbila is an
associate of a law firm in the regional capital, Goma.

She’s one of the prosecuting
lawyers in what could be an historic case.

10:01:44

SUBTITLES

(ASTON

NADINE SAYIBA MBILA

LAWYER)

NADINE SAYIBA MBILA

For me this process sends a
very strong signal

in the fight against impunity

It’s a strong signal for the
repression of mass crimes.

I’m also here to give my
clients proper protection

on their journey seeking
justice in Congo.

10:02:14

COMMENTARY 4

Today Nadine is going with a
psychologist, Pirette Civita to Minova, the town where the Congolese army
raped at least 76 women and children in November 2012.

The area is still heavily
militarized and there are many 1000’s of disbanded militia.

Both the witnesses and lawyers
have been threatened and intimidated.

10:02:37

SUBTITLES

NADINE

Every journey, every action,

constitutes a
threat to us

Everything we do, this interview,

its all dangerous
for us.

When I'm going there,

I’m worried about
the condition of the roads

and the presence of
soldiers.

We have to ensure that people

participate in this
process.

In my heart, I’m anxious and stressed.

But I must go to
prepare the victims.

10:03:08

GVs

Women in the fields

COMMENTARY 5

Minova was an ordinary market
town, but the local people will never forget that night when several thousand
Congolese army troops arrived.

They’d been ordered to withdraw
from Goma leaving their own families vulnerable to the invading M23 rebels.

Angry and frustrated the
soldiers punished the townspeople.

This woman was raped and
sodomised by 3 soldiers that night.

10:03:39

SUBTITLES

WITNESS 99

FACE BLURRED

I’ll never be the same again

it’s something I’ll never
forget

I don’t think I’ll ever get
better until I die.

10:03:50

COMMENTARY 6

She’s already testified in
court and found the experience of being a witness a terrible ordeal.

10:03:57

FACE

WITNESS 99

BLURRED

We were all so afraid

personally, I was shaking half to death

Terrified! We’d never faced
anything like that

especially those of us who are
victims.

You’d be shaking so much that sometimes

you’d say anything out of panic.

10:04:24

COMMENTARY 7

Nadine and Pirette have arrived in Minova.

The women know how distressing it is for the rape survivors to come to
court and are here toprepare them.

Pirette has been working with one women who was dragged from her hut and
raped by a soldier. At the time her baby was only 2 months old.

10:04:46

SUBTITLES

SUBTITLE

ASTON

PIRETTE CIVITA PSYCHOLOGIST

PIRETTE CIVITA

When I first saw her, she was scared.

She was scared and depressed.

She was very emotional and she was crying.

She wasn’t able to open up.

After I gave her psychological counseling…

…she was willing to testify and

to take part in the judicial process.

10:05:17

SUBTITLES

WITNESS 68

What she tells us is very useful

the reason it’s useful is because

…by listening to her, I feel a weight has been lifted.

Everytime I see her, I feel relieved.

It helps me to forget.

10:05:40

COL H SHOWS US AROUND

COMMENTARY 8

Surrounding Minova, are more than 2,000 disbanded militiamen in limbo.
Unpaid and with little food, they’re waiting for integration into the
national army or demobilization.

Colonel Habarugira is one of them and commands 800 men. He brought them
to join government forces in November 2012 when the army devastated Minova.

The local population is worried about their presence. They don’t believe
the right soldiers are on trial and think the perpetrators may still be in
the area.

10:06:14

ASTON

NEHEMIE HABAJUWE BAHATI

President

Minova Civil Society

SUBTITLES

NEHEMIE HABAJUWE BAHATI

To us this process is a farce.

When we went to court on the first day of the trial

and the accused presented.

We saw totally new faces,

It made us question the governments intentions in
arresting these people.

Are the soldiers who were brought before us the same
ones who committed the rapes here?

10:06:47

COMMENTARY 9

Colonel Habarugira has been identified as an officer who ordered his men
to rape.

He denied the allegations.

Yet he seemed heavily dependent on his advisers sitting beside him.

10:07:01

SUBTITLE

LT. COLONEL HABURIGIRA

There was no problem at all

the population received us well

Wherever I went and pitched camp…

…if I’d committed any crime

the law would catch up with me.

I would be tried and punished.

10:07:24

COMMENTARY 10

But with a weak and fragile
justice system critics point to flaws that may prevent a rigorous trial.

ASTON

TIMO MULLER

10:07:31

TIMO MULLER

ENOUGH PROJECT

The prosecution doesn’t have as much jurisprudence, earlier cases to fall
back on to draw experiences from.

The defense team lacks often
very basic necessities. I spoke to one lawyer who complained that he couldn’t
pay for a copy of a dossier which is indicative of the lack of resources.

10:07:59

COMMENTARY 11

Below the camp, some local people came with more accusations against
Colonel Haburigira and his men.

10:08:06

SUBTITLE

(?ASTON

MARIA BALUMI

)

MARIA BALUMI

We are scared of going to the fields.

We go there in fear

because they find us in the fields and rape us.

It’s the Nyatura.

Over there they’re up there

they’re led by Haburigira.

10:08:24

COMMENTARY 12

Since then, Colonel Haburigira has left the transit centre, taking his
men with him into the forest.

10:08:31

TIMO MULLER

No high
ranking element of the Congolese army stood trial.

From the top of my head, I can
already mention 2 or 3 generals who I would like to see at least stand trial
but that never happened, it didn’t fly well with the political regime.

10:08:49

COMMENTARY 13

In Goma, the regional capital. It’s another day in court and Nadine is
getting ready.

10:08:55

SUBTITLE

NADINE SAYIBA MBILA

When I put on the robes for court

…the black of my robe…

…the black that symbolises so much –

evil, injustice, theft and rape.

When I look at my white stock…

I see justice, I see fairness

and I see compensation.

I see the
glimmer, I see the light,

and the hope for these women.

10:09:29

SUBTITLE

WITNESS 68

Bringing them to trial

will act as a deterrent to others.

It wasn’t like this before

we had no one to turn to.

This sends a strong message

it will force them to stop.

10:09:49

COMMENTARY 14

One of the most significant
charges against these soldiers is of officers failing to control their men.
It’s been leveled because only one of the raped women was able to identify
her assailant.

WITNESS 70

10:10:01

They said
‘can you go and pick him out?’

I went back to where they were
sitting

because there were many prisoners .

I went and I said
‘that's him’,

and I touched him.

They found his name and his
file

and he was the one.

10:10:23

COMMENTARY 15

This is the man she identified.

The reason she’s so certain is
because he’s missing a finger which she noticed the night she was raped.

ASTON

2ND LT SABWE

10:10:32

LIEUTENANT SAWBE

I denied everything there and
then,

I said it wasn’t me.

People were looting and raping
at the time.

She said I’d raped her, but
that’s not true.

It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, it
wasn’t.

10:10:51

COMMENTARY 16

But 2nd Lt Sabwe
says he’s got a cast iron alibi.

2ND LT SABWE

10:10:55

The only people who can clear
my name are doctors.

They can testify that I cannot
have an erection.

So how could I rape or sleep
with a woman?

10:11:12

COMMENTARY 17

And he doesn’t feel he’s seen
much justice.

2ND LT SABWE

10:11:16

What do I think of this court?

Well, I don’t even have a
lawyer!

When I see what is happening to
me,

I can’t believe it.

I didn’t rape anyone.

10:11:24

FADE TO BLACK

10:11:33

Accused arriving

COMMENTARY 18

It’s the day of the verdict

It’s just 5 months since this
military court for war crimes started.

For Nadine this will be one of
the most important decisions of her career.

NADINE

10:11:46

For me, the verdict…

It’s true, I cannot force the
outcome.

But I want,…
I’m fighting so that these women

will get some form of justice.

That's the verdict I want.

10:12:10

COMMENTARY 19

When the trial started in
November 40 men were accused of war crimes, including rape.

Since then one man has died in
prison, and only 27 were detained. Five of the senior officers, accused of
failing to control their troops, never appeared in court. Despite the charges
against them, they were deployed on operations, still commanding men in
battle.

10:12:47

COMMENTARY 20

Its time for the men to hear
their fate.

None of the witnesses have come
because, it’s too dangerous for them.

10:12:56

UP SOT VERDICT

The accused Sabwe Tchibanga (pause)

For the question of whether he is

guilty of the war crime of rape.

The answer is yes.

The question of whether he is guilty

of the war crime of pillage.

The answer is yes.

10:13:17

10:13:25

10:13:30

COMMENTARY 21

Second Lt Sabwe is one of the
only two accused of rape as a war crime who’ve been found guilty.

UPSOT

Can we apply the Penal code?

The court says yes.

COMMENTARY CONT

He’s been sentenced to life
imprisonment.

18 other soldiers were found
guilty of looting.

All of the 5 senior officers were
cleared.

10:13:46

COMMENTARY 22

As those found guilty are
graphically stripped of their rank, whatever the flaws of this trial, the
limited successes should also be acknowledged

·It has been brought to a conclusion,

·Many witnesses did come
to testify at great risk.

·And there were convictions
for rape as a war crime, albeit just two.

But if Congo is ever going to
rid itself of the title of ‘rape capital of the world’, there needs to be a
much stronger form of justice.